BackStory with the American History Guys

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BackStory is a weekly one-hour public radio show that provides a national broadcast audience with an enjoyable and accessible way of engaging challenging themes in American history and how they connect with today. The show is hosted by renowned historians Peter Onuf, Ed Ayers, and Brian Balogh. BackStory’s signature sound and spirit of inquiry emanates from the hearts and minds of its genial hosts, whose unscripted brilliance reflects a warmth and rapport that comes from their longtime friendship.

Please confirm carriage of BackStory with the American History Guys by contacting Steve Martin at 703-715-0827 or steve@sfmconsulting.com.

Moving from current headlines to drill down into U.S. history, each surprising BackStory episode features lively interviews with a diverse roster of scholars, experts, and ordinary citizens from around the country; listener calls; host discussions; and produced pieces. Topics are as diverse as college sports, reenactments, sugar, memorials, domestic terrorism, birthing, homeownership, the post office, philanthropy, protests, privacy, marriage, revivalism, and childhood—all in the context of American history.

Since BackStory first began as a monthly show in 2008, episodes have been broadcast by more than 130 primary stations in 39 states, 29 in the top 50 markets by population. Podcasts have been downloaded 1.4 million times.

BackStory is produced by VFH Radio at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. Major funding is provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities with additional corporate, foundation, institutional, and individual support.

Please visit our station landing page for upcoming episodes, promotional photos, and other information.

 


Pieces

Federalizing Floods
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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Host Brian Balogh talks with sociologist Karen O’Neill about the federal government’s move into flood control in 1917 – as landowners along the Mis...

Bought by Public Radio Remix


  • Added: Jun 17, 2013
  • Length: 05:29
  • Purchases: 1
Remembering the Rising Tide
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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Jennifer Abraham-Cramer helps us understand the great Mississippi flood of 1927, using stories from survivors preserved by oral historians.

Bought by Public Radio Remix


  • Added: Jun 17, 2013
  • Length: 07:41
  • Purchases: 1
Rivers vs. Railroads
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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BackStory Producer Jess Engebretson brings us the story of the Effie Afton disaster – an 1856 steamboat crash that led to a legal showdown between ...

Bought by Public Radio Remix


  • Added: Jun 17, 2013
  • Length: 06:34
  • Purchases: 1
The Worst Steamboat Money Can Buy…
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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Host Ed Ayers talks with historian Walter Johnson about the rise of steamboats in the 19th Century, and how the cotton economy fueled an ever more ...

Bought by Public Radio Remix


  • Added: Jun 17, 2013
  • Length: 08:58
  • Purchases: 1
That Lawless Stream: A History of the Mississippi River
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Full Episodes
Caption: The city of New Orleans (detail), c1885, Credit: Library of Congress
The Mississippi River is central to the American landscape and imagination. And for centuries, it has served as a battlefield in which our most com...

Bought by WRPI, WOUB, WTJU, and KREV-LP


  • Added: Jun 14, 2013
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 4
Promo -"That Lawless Stream: A History of the Mississippi River"
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: Promos for Upcoming Shows
Caption: City of New Orleans Circa 1885, Credit: Courtesy of the Library of Congress
30-second promo for "That Lawless Stream: A History of the Mississippi River" with 5 second hole for station-specific time/date tag.

  • Added: Jun 12, 2013
  • Length: :30
Welcome to the Big Leagues
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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Host Brian Balogh unpacks the saga of the Contract Buyers League, a local activist group in Chicago’s Lawndale neighborhood that organized in the 1...

Bought by Public Radio Remix and KREV-LP


  • Added: Jun 10, 2013
  • Length: 13:27
  • Purchases: 2
Heed the Deed
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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Host Brian Balogh talks with historian Loren Moulds about Herbert Hoover’s career-long crusade to promote home ownership.

Bought by Public Radio Remix


  • Added: Jun 10, 2013
  • Length: 05:08
  • Purchases: 1
Creaky Boards and Cobwebs
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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Film critic David Edelstein takes us on a tour of haunted houses in the movies.

Bought by Public Radio Remix and KREV-LP


  • Added: Jun 10, 2013
  • Length: 06:06
  • Purchases: 2
Home Bittersweet Home: Owning the American Dream [rebroadcast]
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Full Episodes
Caption: Tom Ireland House in 1937, Webberville, TX , Credit: Library of Congress
Home ownership is central to the American Dream, so why have so many Americans struggled to achieve it? This week’s BackStory probes the roots - an...

Bought by KREV-LP, WOUB, and WTJU


  • Added: Jun 07, 2013
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 3
PROMO - "Home, Bittersweet Home: A History of Homeownership"
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: Promos for Upcoming Shows
Caption: Tom Ireland House, Webberville, Travis County, TX 1937 , Credit: (via Library of Congress)
30-second promo for "Home, Bittersweet Home: A History of Homeownership" 5-second music bed at end for station-specific time/date tag.

  • Added: Jun 05, 2013
  • Length: :30
Sleepwalking to the Asylum
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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BackStory producer Eric Mennel and literature professor Benjamin Reiss brings us the story of Jane Rider, a sleepwalking servant girl whose case in...

Bought by KBRP Community Radio


  • Added: Jun 04, 2013
  • Length: 11:38
  • Purchases: 1
Are you Depressed?
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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Sociologist Allan Horwitz discusses psychiatric diagnosis in the late 20th Century, and our changing perceptions of “sadness” and “depression.”

Bought by WEZU


  • Added: Jun 03, 2013
  • Length: 05:44
  • Purchases: 1
States of Mind: Mental Illness in America
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Full Episodes
Caption: “Attitudes Passionnelles”: woman in a state of hysteria, Credit: (Wikimedia Commons)
The American Psychiatric Association just released its latest Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) – a manual that says as much about how we vie...

Bought by WCAI / WNAN, KREV-LP, WRPI, WEZU, WTJU and more


  • Added: May 31, 2013
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 7
Promo - "States of Mind: Mental Illness in America"
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: Promos for Upcoming Shows
Caption: Woman in Hysteria, Credit: (Wikimedia Commons)
30-second promo for "States of Mind: Mental Illness in America" with 5 second hole for station-specific time/date tag.

  • Added: May 29, 2013
  • Length: :30
Mourning Glory
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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The American History Guys talk with a listener about how the trend of memorializing lost loved ones on Facebook has historical precedence.

  • Added: May 28, 2013
  • Length: 08:28
Between a Rock and a Hard Place
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
Piece image
BackStory producers Eric Mennel and Nell Boeschenstein visit Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia to tell the story of a monument in honor of Heyward Shep...

  • Added: May 28, 2013
  • Length: 10:49
Face the Changes
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
Piece image
Host Brian Balogh talks with Teresa Bergman about the evolving film presentations the National Park Service has used to welcome tourists at Mount R...

Bought by KBRP Community Radio


  • Added: May 28, 2013
  • Length: 10:11
  • Purchases: 1
Monumental Disagreements [rebroadcast]
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Full Episodes
Caption: Proposed Mothers' Memorial by John Geddes, 1922-30, Credit: (Library of Congress).
This is a country awash in monuments. They adorn traffic circles, street corners and, of course, the National Mall. In this special Memorial Day ep...

Bought by WTJU, WOUB, KFOK-LP, WEZU, KBRP Community Radio and more


  • Added: May 24, 2013
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 7
PROMO - "Monumental Disagreements: Memorials in America"
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: Promos for Upcoming Shows
Caption: Proposed Mothers’ Memorial , Credit: John Geddes, 1922-30 (LOC)
30-second promo for "Monumental Disagreements: Memorials in America" with 5 second hole for station-specific time/date tag.

Bought by Georgia Public Broadcasting and KUMD


  • Added: May 22, 2013
  • Length: :30
  • Purchases: 2

Playlists

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People who work with BackStory with the American History Guys

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Tony Field (Admin)
Producer
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Andrew Wyndham
Executive Producer VFH Radio
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Eric Mennel
Associate Producer
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Jess Engebretson
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Jamal Millner
Technical Director
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Chioke Ianson
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Steve Martin
Public radio programming consultant
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Emily Charnock